POLICE watchdogs in North Wales are sending the Government a £375,000 bill for the costs of the abandoned 'merger mayhem'.

The Home Office has signalled that plans to force through the unpopular police mergers have now been dropped.

The news was greeted with huge relief by North Wales Police Authority who campaigned long and hard against the creation of an all-Wales superforce.

But chairman Ian Roberts revealed they would be invoicing the Home Office for the money squandered on the process.

In North Wales alone, staff costs, public consultation and legal advice topped £375,000. The all-Wales figure is more than £1m.

Cllr Roberts said: 'We said from the very outset this was an extremely costly waste of public money, money that could and should have been far better spent putting more bobbies on the beat to keep our communities safe.

'This exercise in futility has cost £375,000 in North Wales alone and across Wales as a whole the bill is likely to be in excess of £1m - and that's a conservative estimate.

'And as a result, 65 people were diverted from their normal duties and tied up working on a project that was doomed from the very beginning.

'While, of course, we are relieved that the Government has finally seen sense and called off the restructuring process, the consequences for us in terms of funding are serious.

'It is not right that the council tax payers of North Wales should be expected to pick up the financial pieces of the merger mayhem that was imposed on our force and the police authority.

'The mess was of the Home Office's making and they should pay to clear it up. We expect the amount to be repaid in full.'